The Ascent has one of the most streamlined class systems of any looter shooter. Skills impact armor rating, negating the need for weapon and armor farming. One of the most important features in the Ascent class system is augmentations, abilities that can be used to supplement gunfire and grenades. These abilities can be very powerful if used correctly.
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There are a total of 22 different augmentations in game, and each player can have two equipped at a time. Each augment falls into the Biometric, Cybernetic, Motoric, or Frame category. Just like armor, gamers will need to put skill points in the right category for augmentations to be effective. This guide will cover each augment, organized by attribute, to help players choose the right ones for their build.
To make the most of these augmentations, players will want to appropriate points into the Body Battery and Vital Signs skills. Doing so will improve the cooldown and power of the Biometric augmentations.
Anyone having trouble staying alive will have to get their hands on the Biometric Timestamp. When the augment is activated, it will allow players to regain health up to the level it was before the ability was used. While players can still get one tapped by high level foes, this augment will let them absorb a ton of damage and instantly recover.
The IO converter will convert all weapon damage to digital damage while active. This augment has a very quick cooldown, but has a very limited application. Digital damage is great for robots and other inorganic creatures, but not useful against other enemies. A lot of fights in game will include multiple different types of enemies, and being stuck with only digital damage can be a liability.
Overclock is by far the best augment in the class. The augment increases energy regen, tactical recharge, and reload speed. For all these benefits, Overclock only uses just 60 energy.
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With the augment equipped, gamers will be able to use their primary augment more often, throw more grenades, and spend less time in the reload animation. A hidden perk of the aug is rapid health regeneration, which triggers if the character is not damaged for several seconds.
While the augment uses a lot of energy, Tentakill is one of the top ones in the game. The ability sends out tentacles that seek enemies, inflicting a devastating amount of damage. Even better, the user is invulnerable while Tentakill is active, making it an incredible augment for any build.
The second augmentation category is Cybernetics. The Tactical Sense and Critical Hit Rate skills will provide a boost to the Cybernetic augments. Sadly, many of the Cybernetic augmentations are not that useful in game. The Mono augments in particular do not provide enough support to warrant a slot.
This ability spawns a dragon that freezes any target in the area of effect. Players can mow down all of the stationary targets, who will stay frozen for several seconds. If stasis enemies are killed, they will explode. The stasis explosion will create a huge AOE bubble, which will in turn likely trigger more explosions.
Life Transfer leeches health from marked enemies that are taking damage. Unfortunately, gamers will only find the augment useful when fighting ten or more adds at once. It would be easier to walk over to the kiosk and buy a few health packs in most situations.
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Looten is more of a friend than an augment. This little drone will scour the battlefield for health, ammo, weapons, and other items dropped by enemies. Instead of having to search for health vials and packs, Looten will pick them up for the player. This useful drone is one of the more viable choices in the class.
Each of these three augmentations spawn a robot to help gamers during a fight. However, the Ranger and Scrapper just don't do enough damage to be worth the 60-80 energy cost. Mono Defenders are a little better because they carry the large shield. However, there are more than a dozen better options for augmentations in The Ascent.
The Rat Bite augment hacks enemies and makes them fight for the user. In theory, this is a cool ability to have. However, similar to the Mono augments, not enough enemies are turned, and most of them fire nerf guns. For the ridiculously high resource cost and extended cooldown, this ability does not provide enough upside.
With this ability, gamers can spawn eight explosive spiders that look for enemies and explode on impact. These little guys will almost always kill the intended target, although they sometimes get lost. In the Cybernetics class, this is one of the augmentations worthy of a class slot.
Volatile is a powerful augmentation that explodes marked enemies when they die. This is particularly useful against tightly grouped mobs and adds, as each explosion deals considerable damage and has a moderately sized AOE. The Volatile augment starts a domino effect of explosions, which wipes hordes of enemies off the map.
Out of all the classes, the Motoric augmentations are the most stylish. Each has an impressive animation, which is perfect for the showoff in the squad.
This ability fires several homing rockets, which seek targets and explode on impact. It is viable against mobs and bosses, as the missiles will find the closest available target. Homing Min is certainly one of the better options in the class, as well as in the game as a whole. The locking animation takes about a second, but after it is complete, the player will be able to move freely.
The Hydraulic Slam is the first augmentation that most players will find, and is exceptionally good at lower levels. It shoots out kinetic energy that will inflict damage on nearby enemies in the cone of the effect. Later in the game, it will not compete with the top AOE augments because of its limited range. Still, against one large boss or a small group of enemies, Hydraulic Slam is powerful.
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When this ability is used, gamers will not miss a target as long as the weapon's clip has ammunition. The bigger the clip, the more damage players can deal with this aimbot augment. This ability is good, but not great in most situations. Players can cause a lot more damage with other augments.
Neutron Beam basically turns the player into a Super Saiyan. Players will be able to shoot the huge beam in any direction, erasing enemies in the process. The only downside to the ability is that the character will not be able to move while it is active.
One of the main issues with frame augments is that players will need the Balance skill to max out the stats. Of the eight skills, Balance is one of the worst to focus on. Thankfully, Evasion is one of the most important skills, and it is a Frame attribute as well.
Energy Mech Shield is one of the few defensive augmentations that are actually useful. The shield provides 90 degrees of protection, and will absorb damage based on the number of skill points in Frame. With enough skill points, the shield can be abused to give solo users an advantage. In co-op, however, there really isn't a reason to be using a shield for protection.
In any mode, the Hyper Focus Augment is a strategic defensive tool. The augmentation will create a bubble shield that slows down projectiles that enter the area of effect. It won't last long without a lot of points in Frame, but with the right build, Hyper Focus is a top defensive choice in the game.
Propulsion leap is an AOE slam attack that will destroy AI in range. It can only be used every eight seconds, but the benefits are worth the energy cost. Players will be able to instantly take out ten or more adds at a time with this ability.
Gamers can spawn a swarm of drones that surround the character with Razor Dronettes. Unfortunately, the drones de-spawn way too quickly, and barely tickle nearby enemies. These drones act as more of a shield than anything, and do not last long enough to warrant 60 energy.
The final augmentation in the game is self-explanatory. The character will stomp, causing a stasis effect that freezes nearby enemies. This is almost exactly the same as the Joyrun Dragon augmentation. Anyone that is killed while in stasis will explode, triggering even more explosions. Stasis Stomp in undeniably S tier, and players need to give it a try if they have sufficient points in Frame.
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